City adds second flashing crosswalk

By Vianna Davila :
March 8, 2013
: Updated: March 8, 2013 11:04pm

Councilman Cris Medina collaborated with the Cityâ€™s Department of Public Works and the Texas Department of Transportation to fund and install a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon at the 2800 block of Fredericksburg Rd. The Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, also known as High-Intensity Activated crossWalK (HAWK), is activated by a pedestrian and utilizes yellow and red lights to warn drivers when a pedestrian is crossing the roadway.

Photo By Helen L. Montoya/San Antonio Express-News

Councilman Cris Medina collaborated with the Cityâ€™s Department of Public Works and the Texas Department of Transportation to fund and install a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon at the 2800 block of Fredericksburg Rd. The Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, also known as High-Intensity Activated crossWalK (HAWK), is activated by a pedestrian and utilizes yellow and red lights to warn drivers when a pedestrian is crossing the roadway.

Photo By Helen L. Montoya/San Antonio Express-News

Councilman Cris Medina collaborated with the Cityâ€™s Department of Public Works and the Texas Department of Transportation to fund and install a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon at the 2800 block of Fredericksburg Rd. The Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, also known as High-Intensity Activated crossWalK (HAWK), is activated by a pedestrian and utilizes yellow and red lights to warn drivers when a pedestrian is crossing the roadway.

On Friday, District 7 Councilman Cris Medina was on hand for the opening of a new type of crosswalk on Fredericksburg Road that he hopes will prevent pedestrian accidents, the kind that last year claimed the lives of at least two people crossing that busy corridor.

The crosswalk at Santa Anna Street is called a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, also known as the High-intensity Activated crossWalK, or HAWK. It incorporates an overhead flashing light system that's activated when pedestrians press a button.

A flashing yellow light warns drivers that a pedestrian is about to cross. A solid yellow light alerts drivers they soon will need to stop. A solid red light means drivers should stop, because a pedestrian is in the crosswalk.

A flashing red light tells drivers to stop and then proceed through when the intersection is clear of any people.

When there are no lights at all, motorists can go through the intersection.

The system in District 7 is the city's second HAWK crosswalk. The first was installed in downtown on Losoya Street in January, said April Alcoser, public relations manager for the city's Public Works department.

The Fredericksburg Road system cost $120,000, funded by the councilman's share of the Neighborhood Access and Mobility Program and his capital improvements budget, Medina said. It was installed across the street from the Primrose at Monticello Park Apartments, a senior living facility.

Last May, 73-year-old Yolanda Ramona Najera was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle as she rode her motorized wheelchair across Fredericksburg Road at Santa Anna Street, right by the new system. There was no crosswalk, but police said Najera drove across the street “without hesitation.”

In October, Erna Zwicke, 90, was killed after crossing in the 1500 block of Fredericksburg Road in her motorized wheelchair.

Medina said seniors had been asking for a dedicated crosswalk across from Primrose for years.

The new crosswalk now ensures “they don't have to play chicken anymore when they are trying to cross Fredericksburg Road,” Medina said. “It gives them a dedicated crosswalk when they want to cross.”

He's also looking at an ordinance that would examine lowering speed limits around senior centers and libraries and potentially allow residents to petition the city to decrease speed limits in their neighborhoods.